It All Starts with White Fabric, Part I

Yes, this is how it starts, and I never know how it's going to turn out. But I've been doing more work lately, so I'm going to post lots of pictures so you can see how it's going.

This is the one piece I've been focusing on. I've been working on it in a once-a-week class on whole cloth composition. The class is challenging me to think and work in a way that is different from how I usually work. I screened the whole piece using torn freezer paper as a resist for the red shapes. For once the red dye really took. I free-handed the black curve with a black Sharpie marker.

But the background color wasn't right, so I decided to discharge it. The freezer paper got a little burned and was difficult to remove. Some of it lasted through four hot water washings!

Then it looked like this. Lighter background, but still not right. That Sharpie marker seems to stay no matter what you do.

Then I screened in some chartreuse.

And it came out like this. (My back door makes for an interesting design wall.)

Then I decided to discharge a different shape and got this. I used freezer paper again to keep the red shapes from being discharged.

But the color was still bothering me, so I screened purple over all of it. It's interesting to note that--in terms of true color--sometimes the photos look better than the fabric and vice versa.

And this is where it is now. (Please ignore the background, it's all part of my archeological design wall.) I think the piece is much more interesting than what shows up every time I take a photo. On the whole, the piece is more complex than the photos indicate, and now I'm also concerned about how well it might ultimately photograph, assuming I continue to the finish with it. I can't believe how those red blobs jump out in the photos, but are much more subdued in reality. I think I'm going to have to do something to them, but I'm not sure what. Suggestions welcome.



For more quick views of other pieces in process, see Part II.